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by Charles van Lerberghe (1861 - 1907)

Prima verba
 (Sung text for setting by G. Fauré)
 Matches original text
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG GER
Comme elle chante
Dans ma voix,
L'âme longtemps murmurante
Des fontaines et des bois !

Air limpide du paradis,
Avec tes grappes de rubis,
Avec tes gerbes de lumière,
Avec tes roses et tes fruits ;

Quelle merveille en nous à cette heure !
Des paroles depuis des âges endormies
En des sons, en des fleurs.
Sur mes lèvres enfin prennent vie.

Depuis que mon souffle a dit leur chanson,
Depuis que ma voix les a créés,
Quel silence heureux et profond
Naît de leurs âmes allégées !

Composition:

    Set to music by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Prima verba", op. 95 no. 2 (1906), published 1906 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from La Chanson d'Ève, no. 2, Éd. Heugel

Text Authorship:

  • by Charles van Lerberghe (1861 - 1907), no title, written 1903, appears in La Chanson d'Ève, in 1. Premières paroles, no. 6, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1904

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Primeres paraules", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Pieter van der Woel) , "De eerste woorden", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Peter Low) , "First words", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Erste Worte", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 84

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